Lake Suzy HISTORY
A hundred years ago, the Lake Suzy was an area of Florida grasslands and vegetation used primarily as a cow pasture and lesser extent, by hunters. There were no natural lakes at that time.
As far back as the 1920’s, the property in the area was known as the “Loreda Park Subdivision” composed of 50’ x 100’ lots. In 1968, Ben and Harriett Shepard acquired the land from the family of Felton Garner (former Commissioner in DeSoto County). Ben and Harriett turned the property east of Kings Highway over to their son, David, for future development.
David believed that to develop the property for residential use, it would require an amenity – or something that would attract would-be buyers. That amenity would be a lake. The design of the lake was, as Dave explains, to “add mystery.” The intent was that no matter where one stood overlooking the lake; one could not see the end. Mystery would be evident around every bend!
In 1971, Dave began excavation for the lake at the corner of Ben Drive and Kings Row. As Dave described, “once you dig a hole in Florida, groundwater begins to fill it up and within fifteen minutes the alligators arrive!” Heavy duty pumps were installed to keep the lake mostly dry during the entire excavation process.
A big problem with the excavation, Dave explained, was disposing of the fill. Approximately one million cubic yards needed to be excavated and removed. But to where? Dave arranged with a heavy construction contractor to excavate, at the contractor’s cost, approximately 100,000 cubic yards of dirt to be used for developing nearby Kings Highway.
This arrangement was cheaper for the contractor, says David, than to have the dirt brought in from elsewhere. However, before Kings Highway was paved, nearly 300,000 cubic yards were deposited on the west side of Kings Highway for the development of a golf course. The remaining 600,000 cubic yards were sold to trucking companies as landfill in the Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda area. Excavation of Lake Suzy was finally completed in 1976. Single family home construction started soon thereafter.
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